Sage advice, as usual. I made the decision not to read my reviews. I'd rather get feedback from trusted sources to improve on my writing. I have one beta reader that can give feedback that's almost painful to hear, but my writing is better for it.

Don't throw good money or more time at something that isn't working. Change direction and move on.

Not so sure about this one. Dogged persistence is one of the keys to almost every success story. If it's a character or story you believe in, something you're passionate about, then I think it's okay to stick with it indefinitely, even when the rest of the world is telling you to hang it up.

Paolo, I have yet to read a review, professional or otherwise, that made me reconsider a thing about my work. Reviews are an opinion and offer little or nothing to the writer in the way of useful feedback.

Less booze, drugs, and junk food, more sex, exercise, and sensible eating.I can dig the part about more sex, but the rest of this??? What are you supposed to wash down cheeseburgers and pain pills with if not booze? If I wanted to eat something sensible, I'd take a bite out of Thomas Paine.

About the tweets that Twitter folks are all-a-twitter over: I won't tweet, folks! I can't write anything in 140 characters or less.To prove that, I'd add one other point to Joe's list: forget the negative reviews. Actually, that should be a corollary of: don't read your reviews because they generally follow Sturgeon's law, especially on Amazon. When I buy ebooks for casual reading (more than I ever did with pbooks), I look at the excerpt and the blurb, not the reviews.And here's a suggestion: don't worry what anyone else is reading on Goodreads--no one should follow a crowd, or one person, for that matter, in their reading choices.r/Steve

I noticed that there was nothing in your list about being more honest. That's something you don't have to tell your younger self, because you've ALWAYS been honest with us. It's one of the things we love about you.

Great list. When I started out writing I practically thought of editors and agents as Gods. I think I'd tell my younger self to get a grip, they fallible people just like you and most are right out of college without a clue. :)

Joe - Lurker here, posting for the first time. Great list. I'd love to tell my younger self, "Don't wait for permission. Work harder at writing, younger. Don't think you've got all the time in the world because one day you'll wake up 38 years old, wondering where the hell your 20s and 30s went."

TM Bilderback - I've struggled with the Twitter question myself, wondering how I'd let people know I'm out there without it. How do you let people know your work is available without social networks? (I'm not on Facebook - from what I hear it's more of a timesuck than Twitter is.)

As a book reviewer, I can agree with don't read your reviews. I'm not writing to give writers advice on their manuscripts (although if you email me I'll be happy to go into chapter and verse). I'm writing for the reader.

"Celebrate the milestones" is something I need to work on. That and the having fun and losing the hate.

When I get into moments like that, I have to remind myself that each day is like a billboard on the highway. It'll pass and recede into the distance, and you'll never go back.

I sometimes wonder if remembering the past and thinking about the future is actually a sign of insanity. This comes from living with cats, who don't seem to know about the passage of time.

I want to address Paolo's question. I do reviews and have been known to give authors my opinion. A review is strictly for other readers. It is not designed to help the author in any way except maybe to get more people to buy the book.

Now on opinions to authors, I will tell them what I think works or does not work. Sometimes the authors listen and sometimes they tell me what I am full of. But one thing is I will never lie to you about your book.

I'd add one last thing to that list for me...Don't sign those 5 year contracts for 15 of your old/new books in 2010-2012 with a small publisher!!!! Duh. I discovered self-publishing in 2012 because I discovered J.Konrath's blog. Now I'm waiting impatiently for next June to start getting them all back. One every 2-3 months.

It always amazes me that, while legacy authors are spending time on interviews with major media outlets--Charlie Rose, NPR, etc.--the self-pubbed authors are spending time niggling about a Guardian article that will be read by next to no one.